bergan



Feb. 14, 1956 M. D. BERGAN METHOD OF FORMING DEAD END CONNECTORS Original Filed July 20. 1948 INVENTOR. MARTIN D. BERGAN ATTORNEY METHOD OF FORMING DEAD END CONNECTORS Martin D. Bergan, Westfield, N. J., assignor to The Thomas & Betts ,Co., Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Originalapplicationluly 20, 1948, Serial No. 39,676, now Patent No. 2,669,600,.datcd February 17, 1954. Dsivided andv this application April 9, 1952, Serial No. 2 1,341

3 Claims. (Cl. 29---433) The invention relates-to amethod of forming electric connectors, sometimes called dead end connectors, for suspending a cable from a support, and constitutes a division of application entitled, Dead End Connectors, Serial No. 39,676, filed- July 20, 1948, now Patent No. 2,669,600, granted Februaryl6, 1954. The invention relates to certain improvements in the technique of fabricating the dead end connectors herein featured and to the methods of applying them to their associated cables.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive technique for fabricating the connectors and to facilitate the securing of the connector to the cable, wires or other conductors and to their steel or equivalent cores in such way that there is no possibility of slippage between the connector andconductors when subsequently in use and in which the assembly of connector and conductors when finally ready to be secured to its support is substantially free of fabricating strains.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious from a consideration of the several features of the disclosure and from an inspection of the accompanying drawings andin part will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one method of practicing the invention, and the invention also consists in certain new and novel modifications of the preferred method and other features of construction and.combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation, of a dead end connector of a Greek gamma or pistol-like form in side elevation constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention before the main cable and tap wire have been secured thereto and which form of the invention is intended to be used in those situations wherethe tap wire is separate from the main cable, and particularly where a steel core of the main cable is to be secured to the connector independently of the securing thereto of the conductor elements of the main cable;

Fig. 2 is a plan view looking down upon the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the showing in Figs; 1 and 2, lookingat the same from the right-hand side;

Fig. 4 is .a view similar to Fig. 1, partly in vertical section, with the main cable and tap wire in place, with the splicing tube crimped thereon and with parts broken away to show normally hidden parts of the'steel core anchoring mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional detail view looking down on the right end of Fig. 4.

The dead end connector is of a Greek gamma or pistol-like form and comprise two main parts more or less permanently connected. The connector includes a long, tubular, thin-walled splicing sleeve or tube formed of pure aluminum, bent into elbow form and a casting 11 forming a rugged suspensory. The suspensory includes a block-like main sleeve reinforcing part 12 embracing the elbow at its bend and a bifurcated exten- 2 sion 13 projecting from one end of the main part 12. It is'a feature of the disclosure that the suspensory, while capable of functioning as such, is not necessarily made of conductive material.

The sleeve or tube It was originally a straight length of high electrical conductivity pure aluminum tubing, bent by conventional tube bending machinery into an elbow form to provide a crotch 14 and two ends 15 and 16, eachend capable of being distorted into a'crimping engagement with conductors in its bore 17. The casting 11-is ofone piece and in-theillustrated instanceis formed of an aluminum high strength alloy of the type knownon the market as Alcoa. The device may be formed by rough knurling or otherwise roughing the exterior of the-crotch-forming portion 14 of the tube which'isto be engaged by the casting; by locating thecrotch 14in a mold cavity designedto'give'the required'external configuration to the'casing 11; andby casting metal about the crotch. As the casting cools itshrinks into a binding fit on the elbow tube.

The'casting 11 is provided in its main part 12 with a mainbore 18 extending horizontally and straight there through fromend to end to receive the maincableA and dimensioned to permit the cable A to be'drawn therethrough. The crotch portion of tube 11 is drilled through on its outer convex-side to provide an opening 19 through the-wall of-the-tube and forming a continuation of the mainbore i8- leading'axially-fromthe right end of bore 13-intothe bore 17 of the tube end 15. Thecasting is also" provided with a slightly curved supplemental bore 20 depending'in anare at an obtuse angle from the main bore lfi and designed to receive the intruded end of a tap wire-B. The inner end of bore 20 opensat a sharp angleinto-bore 18 adjacent its mid length to form a Y-shaped opening centrally within the casting;

Thebifurcatedextension 13 of casting 1-1 is formed of a pair of parallel, transversely spaced-apart, apertured ears 21 and 22 provided at-their'outer enlarged ends with align d "bolt holes 23 for suspending. the device from a bolt 24 forming part of a suitable-support are part of the usual tensioning means.

by the bolt 24 bya-more rugged form of dead end connector parts than is provided by the all-aluminum dead end connector hereinabove described.

To accommodate such form of anchorage the outer portion of the main part 112 between the root ends of the ears 2122 is machined 'toform a flat stop wall 25 to form an abutment for 'the'anchorage.

In the illustrated instance. the .main cable includes a steel core C wrapped with aluminum strands forming conductors D. The anchorage forthe steel core comprises two separable steel parts, preferably dropforgings, a U- shaped "clevis 26 .designed to fit eventually between the ears 21-22,: and a long, bolt-like sleeve 27 with its outer end passed loosely through an opening therefor in the crotch of the clevis 26. The sleeve is provided with a head 28 at its outer end dimensioned for bearing on the crotch. The bifurcated ends of the clevis are provided with bolt holes 23 designed to align with the bolt holes 23 in the ears 2l22.

While the two-part form of anchorage for the steel core is preferable, it is within the scope of the disclosure to make the sleeve 27 and clevis 26 as a casting of one p1ece.

In forming the completed structure shown in Fig. 4, the connector of Figs. 1-3 is slid onto an end of the main cable A with the muzzle or left end in advance and until about a foot of the cable sticks out beyond the breech or right end of the connector. The aluminum strands at the projecting end are cut back a distance depending on the length of the sleeve 27 to expose a length E of the steel core C. The unit formed of the steel sleeve 27 with the clevis 26 attached thereto is pushed over the projecting length E of the steel core as far as it will go. The sleeve is then crimped onto the steel core and E starting from the clevis end to form a series of areas 29 of compression. The cable A is then drawn back to the left until the head 28 engages and bears firmly on the crotch of the clevis 26 and the flat crotch of the clevis bears firmly against the stop wall 25. At this time the eyes 23 and 23' are brought into registry to receive the bolt 24. The head 28 and with it the sleeve 27 is free to rotate about the axis of the sleeve as the steel core C and with it the cable A rotatively adjusts itself to the clevis before the parts are permanently locked in place. The tube end 15 is then distorted at a plurality of spaced-apart areas, starting from the inner end, to form a series of crimps 30 to permanently connect the left end of the splicing tube 10 to the main cable A in the portion thereof just beyond the retaining sleeve 27 and just beyond the adjacent end of the casting 11. The clevis 26 is held firmly to the seat 25 and this acts to defeat possibility of the cable A moving further to the left. The steel clevis 26 then forms with the steel sleeve 27 an all-steel extension from the steel core C to the bolt 24. In this way, outward movement of the core and with it the balance of the cable A is restrained from separating from the connector. Securing the fitting to the cable by the crimps 30 likewise secures the steel sleeve 27 from shifting relative to the fitting. Also, the outer strandformed surface of the cable A is secured directly to the connector by reason of the crimps 30 and its core C is also secured from outward separating movement from the connector by reason of the steel connector formed by the sleeve 29 and clevis 26.

The tap wire or jumper cable B illustrated is also of the steel core type and is formed of a steel core F wrapped with aluminum strands G. The tap wire B is inserted into the crimpable tube end 16 with a sliding but substantially snug fit therein and advanced as far as possible or at least until its inner end is well within the outline of the part 12 of the casting 11. The tube end 16 is then distorted into a crimping engagement with the-tap wire 13 by means of a plurality of compressions 31. In this way the tap line is permanently secured to the connector end 16 in the same way that the main cable is secured to its opposite end 15. The steel core of the tap is not held separately because the tap connection is not usually subjected to high strain.

The assembly as thus formed in situ has bolt 24 passed through the eyes 23 of the ears and through eyes 23 in the sides of the clevis and is ready to be secured to the tower or other support following conventional practice in this respect. The steel core C is thus anchored directly to the bolt 24 and therethrough to the support through the steel sleeve 27 and steel clevis 26, and in this way there is provided a more rugged form of suspension for the cable considered as a whole than could be provided by the relatively weaker but better conductive all-aluminum dead end formed by the casting 11 alone.

I claim:

1. In the art of forming a dead end connector on the end of a cable, the method which consists in bending a metal tube into an elbow form having a crotch portion and two straight end portions, casting a one-piece suspension about the elbow with the crotch of the tube as a mandrell, with the casting contoured to form a body portion enclosing and bonded to the crotch portion of the tube and with a stop shoulder exposed at one end of the body portion, with the ends of the tube projecting beyond the body ortion, simultaneously forming as part of said casting a pair of parallel and spaced-apart ears projecting outwardly from the stop shoulder, drilling the body portion to form a straight passageway extending therethrough with one end opening into the bore of one of the straight ends of the tube and said passageway extending through a side of the tube at its elbow portion and opening at its other end through the stop shoulder, threading an end of a cable through the passageway thus formed and through the space formed between the ears, to locate said cable and in exposed position therebeyond, securing a stop to the end of the cable so exposed, re-threading the cable with the stop so attached thereto reversedly back through the passageway until the stop contacts the shoulder, and then crimping the firstrnentioned end of the tube onto the cable to secure the cable permanently to the bent metal tube with the stop engaging the shoulder.

2. In the art of forming a dead end connector, the method which consists in providing a metal tube of elbowform having a crotch and two straight end portions, casting about the crotch as a mandrel a body portion with an exposed stop wall at one end, and said body portion located with the two straight end portions of the tube projecting therefrom, simultaneously forming with the formation of the casting a pair of parallel, spaced-apart ears in position projecting from said stop Wall in spaced relation to the straight end portions of the tube, and drilling the body portion therethrough and through the crotch portion of the tube in line with one of the straight end portions to form a straight passageway opening at one end into the bore of said last-named straight end portion, through the tube and opening at its other end through the stop wall. and into the space between the ears.

3. The method defined in claim 2, wherein the external face of the crotch of the tube in the part about which the body portion is cast is roughened to enhance the bonding of the body portion of the casting onto the tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 962,985 Schutz June 28, 1910 1,234,878 Corvin July 31, 1917 1,711,832 Cooper May 7, 1929 1,743,438 Defibaugh Jan. 14, 1930 1,855,340 Damon Apr. 26, 1932 1,980,426 Noyes Nov. 13, 1934 1,982,732 Fletcher Dec. 4, 1934 2,092,830 Brickrnan Sept. 14, 1937 2,106,007 Klein Jan. 18, 1938 2,152,397 Brickman et al. Mar. 28, 1939 2,398,692 Bratz Apr. 16, 1946 2,411,079 Baule Nov. 12, 1946 2,635.133 Badeau Apr. 14, 1953 

